Sophie is a 19-year old girl who has always thought of herself as a plain,
ordinary person destined to a boring life in the family hat shop.
One day, she meets a handsome and dashing young man who saves her from
harassment. He is Howl, the wizard who is rumored to devour the hearts of beautiful young
women.
That same night, the Witch of the Waste visits the hat shop and turns Sophie
into a 90-year old woman. Sophie sets off to find a way to undo the witch's spell, unwittingly ending up
at Howl's Moving Castle...
Review: Howl's Moving Castle
One thing I never expected Howl's Moving Castle to be was a love story, and
yet that is exactly what it turned out to be. The first time I saw the promotional images, I mistook the old lady for
Spirited Away's Yubaba.
I thought Howls' Moving Castle was some sort of sequel to Spirited Away but
the two are totally unrelated.
Based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle is mainly about
a girl named Sophie. She's the usual Miyazaki heroine -- an average-looking girl with boundless
inner strength and goodness to whom everything out-of-the-ordinary happens.
Sophie meets a dashing young man at the start of the film, not knowing that it
is actually the legendary wizard Howl who is rumored to devour the hearts of
beautiful young women. She is smitten, and that same night the Witch of the Waste pays her a visit.
Sophie is incredibly unperturbed even as she is turned into a homely 90-year
old woman by the witch. Instead of wallowing in self-pity as most people probably would have done,
Sophie packs her things and sets out to find a solution to her problem.
Sophie eventually ends up at Howl's Moving Castle, the home of the attractive
young man she met earlier on. She instantly becomes friends with Howl's companions: Calcifer, the fire demon
who keeps the castle whole and mobile; and Markl, Howl's child-like assistant.
Sophie volunteers to be the castle's cleaning lady, and little by little she
becomes better acquainted with Howl and company.
Howl's Moving Castle is not a straightforward quest to break the witch's
spell.
Shortly after Sophie moves in the castle, she discovers a multitude of other
problems which need to be addressed -- Howl's impending recruitment to the
various kingdoms' armies, the outbreak of war between the lands, and the fact
that Howl sacrificed his heart to Calcifer in exchange for greater powers.
Sophie's own plight takes a backseat as she, Howl, and the other characters
find themselves in one delicate situation after the other.
The film veers away from the traditional plot progression of having the
protagonist advance towards her goal; instead many events conspire to
indirectly contribute to the end result.
It is never really explained how Sophie goes back to being her 19-year old
self, the spell just seems to evaporate bit by bit as she goes about doing
what needs to be done.
The art and animation are comprised of an incredible mix of hand-drawn,
hand-painted, and computer-generated artwork. The combination of vibrant colors and rich textures achieve a level of detail
that is simply astounding.
From the castle's constantly moving gears and mechanisms to the wooden finish
of the tabletops, no expense was spared in animating Howl's Moving Castle.
Character designs follow the usual Miyazaki formula of plain-looking people
and strange-looking magical creatures, with one exception: Howl.
Howl is Miyazaki's most handsome and attractive hero yet, and he is so
smoothly animated that I just could not stop looking at him.
The English dubbing is generally well-done, I just found the young Sophie and
Howl's voices a tad too old-sounding for their characters.
Magical, romantic, and exceptionally presented, Howl's Moving Castle is
undeniably a superior piece of work. While there are some tiny little loops and holes in the plot, it was all too
easy to just shove them aside and lose myself in the magic of it all.
Miscellanies: Howl's Moving Castle
Also check out "Spirited Away".
Howl no Ugoku Shiro (Howl's Moving Castle) | |
| Genre | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 1 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | Nov 20, 2004 |
| Producers | d-rights, Tokuma Shoten |
| Studio | Studio Ghibli |
| Rating | G - All Ages |
| Themes | - |
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